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Old 02-09-2004 | 01:40 AM
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MikeEast
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From: Nederland, TX
Default RE: Need experienced help on a new plane..?

Rozzi,
Dont worry, they land pretty easily actually, its not prone to stall at all if its balanced correctly. If you havent flown the U CAN DO you cant understand how gentle they are for such a wildly aerobatic plane. Its not as easy as a trainer but its much easier than a thin symmetrical airfoil. As long as you dont pull the nose up and stall you will be fine. They will allow fairly slow landings as long you keep the nose level and the plane moving forward. Im telling you you will be shocked at how docile the U CAN DO will be compared to other planes, I know I was. Its 10 times easier to fly than my profiles and Edge type planes.
I would definitely get someone experienced to trim it for you on the 1st flight. Let them take it off, trim it and land it and see how it behaves. They can tell you what to expect.
Generally once the plane is trimmed it will fly level with very little input, you wont have to fight it to keep it level. Some planes you have to constantly stay with them to maintain level flight.

Heres the key to a SMOOOOOTH landing,
Start off with the recommended CG, moving the CG back will make landings more difficult and stalling a bigger problem.
..Practice your approach several times just as was mentioned before, but dont land on the 1st try unless you are deadstick and absolutley must. Get a feel for the sink rate once you cut the throttle to idle on final approach.

..CRITICAL -Work on making your final turn correctly (proper line, elevation and speed to hit the spot on the runway you want.
Heres the trick. Remember this is my opinion, how I was trained to land and it works SO well.
Stand with your shoulders parallel to the runway, your final turn should be maybe 3-4 clicks above idle IF that much and ends up about 30' above the ground and about 75 yards from the end of the runway. DO NOT FACE THE PLANE, face the runway and turn your head to look at the plane with your shoulders lined up with the runway.
You FINAL turn to line up on the runway should be made so that with your shoulders parallel to the runway the plane is just behind your shoulder,, which shoulder depends on the wind. The key is that the plane should be slightly behind your shoulder as it comes in line with the runway. This is the easiest way to get a good depth perception angle to hit the centerline of the runway. If you line up early you can still land but its going to be harder to judge how far in fron of you the plane will touch down. In grass its easier to fudge, if you have a landing strip you will see what I mean. Like I said, I personally have found that a ballpark of 75 yards out and 30'-40' high is the best spot to be as you line up on the runway.
..As you make the final turn cut the throttle to idle, focus, make SMALL corrections on final approach to keep the wings level and the nose level to VERY slighty down, if you line up correctly the plane should very nearly fly itself in at idle providing there are no updrafts or downdraft tendencies at you field in the appraoch areas, even then tiny corrections will get you on the ground. The best handle for controlling approach sink rate is tiny throttle corections, NOT elevator. However as, the plane settles in and gets 2-3' above the ground ease in very very tiny bit of elevator and control the descent. when the plane is about 3" above the ground use the elevator to glide 3" above the ground as long as possible, but DONT pull the nose up. If you do it right the plane will touchdown anyway but will make for a smooooth soft touchdown. Let it coast to a stop. Kill the engine and go get your plane. Do not try steering the plane around on the runway after landing. Eventually you probably will anyways, but I find that I am more prone to tear up my plane while taxiing than I am by crashing in flight.

If by accident you give too much up elevator on approach and the plane darts upward, just ease in about 1/4-1/2 throttle, level the plane out and fly back around. Dont try to force the plane down, if its running out of gas or deadstick just keep the nose level to slightly down and let it ease down to earth. The most common place to tipstall is on the bounce, if the plane bounces up more than a foot or 2 throttle out and fly around for another approach, dont force the plane down after a bounce. If the engine is dead and the plane bounces, just level it out and let it glide down easy. The 3" rule I mentioned before is the key to bounce free landings.

For aligning the plane off my shoulder I imagine a line that extends off of my shoudlers infinitely, parallel to the runway. As I make my turn to line up on the glide path, the plane is just behind that line.

Trust me you are gonna have a blast with that plane. Soory for the length, I didnt realize I had typed so much.